


Happy Birthday, Keith.

by shiirxtakashii



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Drinking, M/M, One sided at first, Other, Platonic Sheith, Prekerberos, SHEITH - Freeform, Unbeta'ed, keith's birthday, post kerberos, slight angst, two parts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-21 15:31:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12460677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiirxtakashii/pseuds/shiirxtakashii
Summary: Suddenly, there was a knock at his door. He didn’t want to answer it, knowing it could be one of the underagers wanting to prank him.Another knock came. Were they going to continue before he gave in and answered?Another.Keith sighed after the third knock, he got up from his chair and pressed the panel, the door opening and balloons flooding in. He barely had any time to process before two arms were around him and the door had closed.“Happy, almost, birthday, Keith,” Takashi said, pulling away from the embrace to look at a rather surprised Keith.





	1. Past

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday to the former Red/Black Paladin! We love you Keith and want you to have the best birthday ever. <3

Takashi strode through the halls of the Garrison, wracking his brain for any way he would be able to address the dates of the Kerberos launch with Iverson.

“Takashi?” Iverson asked, startling Takashi out of his thought process.

“Oh, Commander Iverson!” Takashi replied, saluting and standing straight.

“No need for that right now, did you need something?” Iverson asked, waving off his salute.

Takashi relaxed a bit, letting his arm rest at his side.

“Actually yes, there is,” he replied, crossing his arms awkwardly behind his back.

Iverson did the same, turning to look out the window at the rocket that was now in progress. There wasn’t much but the base and a few scraps of metal around it.

“Well, is there any way we can reschedule the launch? I’m aware it’s months away, but would it be possible to make it a few days, or a week later?” Takashi asked, his gaze going from the floor, to look at Iverson.

Iverson watched some trucks transport material for the rocket before turning to Shiro, his expression full of confusion.

“I’m unsure why that would need to be done, but we are unable to do so. Everything is set to be ready before October 23rd which is the launch date. I’m sorry if you needed it done, but we cannot do it,” Iverson replied, going back to watching.

“That’s okay, I just wanted to see if there was any way we could do it. Thank you, sir,” Takashi nodded, turning away to walk back to his room. He was obviously upset, but hiding it behind a mask, knowing he had an even more upset thing coming to him

Keith laid back on his couch, a book on mechanics of one of the Garrison’s jeeps in his hand, the other behind his head.

The door opened and he looked up, Takashi walking in and sitting where Keith’s feet were, but moving them out of the way and resting them on his lap.

“You look beat. Something up?” Keith replied, going back to his book.

“I have some, not so good news,” Takashi replied, rubbing his face before turning to Keith who had just bolted up to look at the other.

“What’s wrong?” Keith asked, concern evident in his tone.

“It’s nothing major. But…” Takashi stopped, trying to think of a way to address the situation.

“But?” Keith asked, leaning a little closer to the other.

“The Kerberos mission is set to launch on October 23rd early in the morning. That’s also-”

“You’d be leaving on my birthday,” Keith finished, settling back down on the couch and leaning back, his own tone changing to anger.

“I’m sorry, Keith,” Takashi replied, leaning forward and putting his face in his hands, wanting so badly to change everything.

Keith was silent for a moment, rubbing the back of his head and looking to Takashi.

“It’s not your fault. You’ll just be going into space for months on my birthday. What a present,” Keith replied, slight humor in his tone, that was unnoticeable with his anger.

Takashi drew a blank on words, sitting up and looking to Keith, each of them staring at each other in silence.

“We’ll figure something out,” Takashi finally said, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder before standing. “But, let’s start that tomorrow. It’s been a long exhausting day.”

Keith nodded in agreement, waving as Takashi left the room, going back to his own barrack.

 

* * *

 

The next few months went by faster than either of them had expected. They both tried their hardest to think of something to do before Takashi left for space. But in the end, both of them had failed to find anything.

A week before launch, Takashi ran into Keith’s room, out of breath, and struggling to get words formed through pants.

“You… Keith… come-”

“Can you speak English please?” Keith joked, standing up and patting Takashi on the back slightly.

Takashi cleared his throat, straightening his back and gathering his breath neatly.

“You have to come with me. I want to show you something,” Takashi said, taking Keith by the wrist and guiding him out of the room.

Keith barely had any time to process what was going on until they were already halfway to the door that leads outside.

“Takashi wh-” Keith spoke, his words coming out too late as he looked at Takashi with the giant rocket behind him.

“This is what we’ll be flying to Kerberos in!” Takashi exclaimed, throwing his arms up.

Keith smiled, taking a look at the giant metal ship in front of them. His smile soon turned into a frown as he realized it was almost that day.

“What’s wrong, Keith?” Takashi asked, walking over to the other.

“The launch day is coming… my…” Keith said, looking down and off to the side, trying to avoid eye contact in fear he might completely lose it in front of Takashi.

“Hey. I have a plan, just you wait,” Takashi said, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder, causing him to look up.

Keith took a moment before nodding, throwing his arms around Takashi and pulling him close.

“You better be safe if that metal hunk of junk,” Keith pouted.

“I will be safe in that metal beauty,” Takashi replied.

Keith nuzzled his face into Takashi’s shoulder, trying to keep his body still as tears streamed into the jacket he wore.

 

* * *

 

It was finally the night before the launch. The Garrison was in a bustle of busy and parties, all celebrating the brave astronauts about to go into space and risk their lives.

Keith had been in his room all day, trying to avoid every single person who was shouting and possibly drinking (though it were illegal for their age). He hadn’t seen Takashi all day, it wasn’t odd though. Takashi was about to go on an important mission and was probably being dragged around the Garrison to get congratulated before his send off.

It was lonely. Keith was trying to understand what kind of beauty Takashi saw in a metal death trap going into space. I mean, it was cool, but what is beautiful about it?

He crossed his arms over the book and set his head on them, looking at the pencil on his desk. He blew air, the pencil rolling around a bit.

“This is so boring,” Keith hushed to himself, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

Suddenly, there was a knock at his door. He didn’t want to answer it, knowing it could be one of the underagers wanting to prank him.

Another knock came. Were they going to continue before he gave in and answered?

Another.

Keith sighed after the third knock, he got up from his chair and pressed the panel, the door opening and balloons flooding in. He barely had any time to process before two arms were around him and the door had closed.

“Happy, almost, birthday, Keith,” Takashi said, pulling away from the embrace to look at a rather surprised Keith.

“You… I…” Keith was speechless, he didn’t know why his best friend was now in his room, at nearly 11:30 at night, before his launch at 7 am tomorrow morning.

Takashi shuffled around Keith, setting down what he had in his hands that Keith hadn’t noticed was there when he was hugged.

“Uh, thank you Takashi but um… what are you doing here the night before your launch? Shouldn’t you be celebrating?” Keith asked, confusion evident in his tone.

“I am going to celebrate. But I’m going to celebrate by spending the night with you. It’s not just the launch date after all,” Takashi smiled brightly, before going back to taking stuff out of his bag.

Keith couldn’t help but blush at the smile, it was soft, and everything in that moment seemed to slow down for an instant.

Pushing the thought away, Keith walked over to Takashi and looked at exactly he was pulling out of his bag. Snacks, more snacks, some water, some fruity nasty drink that only Takashi drank. It was mostly stuff to stay up and keep them awake but then he pulled out something wrapped, neatly.

Takashi turned around and handed the box over to Keith.

“Don’t open that until after my launch,” Takashi said, pointing to the box.

It was small. Sort of rectangular but also didn’t feel very tough and like someone could poke a hole through it with one touch.

Keith nodded, walking over to his desk and setting the present on top of it.

“Also!” Takashi exclaimed, Keith turning around the face the other, “You’re underage, but, since it’s a special occasion.”

Keith was about to be called a hypocrite for what Takashi was about to pull out of that bag.

“What are those?” Keith questioned, looking at the two bottles in Takashi’s hands.

“Whiskey and Wine,” Takashi, replied, setting the bottles aside.

Keith looked at the whiskey bottle in disgust knowing all too well how it tasted and how strong it was. Wine, however, he knew nothing about other than it was “Fancy”.

“You don’t have to drink a lot, I just thought it would be fun. Also might be my last drink for a while,” Takashi smiled, grabbing one last thing from one of the bags. “And this of course!”

In his hands now, was a small cake enough for the both of them, if they were to eat that much.

“Takashi… you’re one big dork,” Keith laughed, gently pushing his foot against Takashi’s side.

“Hey! I thought this was creative and fun,” Takashi grumbled, setting down the cake and acting pouty.

“Okay, okay. Thank you though…” Keith mumbled, crouching down next to each other.

 

* * *

 

The two had stayed up until the sun had just begun to peak over the horizon. They drank more than both of them were supposed to and began chugging water the rest of the night. The cake that was existent late that night, was now over half eaten.

“Mm… Takashi, what time is it? Keith mumbled, covering his eyes from the light that was starting to flood through the slightly open curtains.

“Early…” Takashi mumbled, sitting up in Keith’s bed.

Keith groaned next to him, sitting up, his mullet-like hair sticking every which way.

“We hardly slept,” Keith muttered, standing and walking to the window to close to curtains all the way, the room becoming dark again.

Takashi nodded, getting out of the bed and walking to his tablet, tapping it open and looking at the time.

“I better get going,” Takashi mumbled, stretching out his arms and gathering his things. “Still a lot to pack.”

Keith sat back on the bed, grogginess still clouding his vision.

“Hey,” Takashi said, standing and walking over to the other, placing a hand on his shoulder and getting a little closer to his level. “Happy birthday, Keith.”

Keith smiled slightly, rubbing one of his eyes and trying to wake up.

“Thank you, ‘Kashi,” Keith mumbled, placing his own hand on top of Takashi’s before it slid off as Takashi left the room.

What felt like moments later, Keith flew up in his bed, looking around the room as it had gotten brighter from the sun. He looked over at the clock noticing that the launch was going to be happening any minute.

Throwing on a fresh shirt, and stumbling to put on some pants, he raced out the door, heading straight for the secret spot Takashi had told him to watch the launch.

He ran up a flight of stairs, making sure there were no guards around before running to the roof. The wind was rough and blowing Keith every which way, he nearly toppled over trying to get himself straight.

He looked up the rocket, just about ready to launch. Everyone was counting down from 10, Keith could feel his entire chest become tight as all of reality seemed to come into his eyes.

In one of the windows, Keith could make out the faint sight of Takashi, ready to launch off into space for months. He was even looking out at Keith.

Keith threw a hand in the air, waving it back and forth and mouthing something to the other.

Takashi waved his hand back, trying to be a little secretive about it.

 “ONE!” The crowd below cheered as the rocket roared to life, the rocket launching off into the air with flames blasting out the bottom of it.

Keith dropped his arm, watching the rocket fly into space. He hadn’t noticed his eyes were pouring out tears. He looked down at his hands, they were shaking as he wept.

“Goodbye, Takashi.”


	2. Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the second part! Hope you all enjoy.

Keith sat in the Red Lion’s chair in the middle of the bay of the ship. No one else was in the room but him.

He sighed, tapping a few buttons on the control panel before standing and beginning to walk out. Shiro showed up seconds before he was about to leave. 

“Hey, Keith,” Shiro started, wanting to say more but Keith walked right passed him. “Keith?”   
  
Shiro followed after him, knowing something was obviously wrong.   
  
“I don’t want to talk,” Keith grumbled, walking into his room and pressing the button for it to shut.   
  
“Hey!” Shiro snapped, slamming into the door causing it to stop and stay open enough for Shiro to slide through. “What the heck is going on?”

Keith settled into his bed, legs tucked close to his chest.   
  
“You know exactly what’s wrong,” Keith hissed, hiding his face in his knees.   
  
Shiro looked down and thought for a moment, thinking of everything that could possibly be wrong. Did the others do something? Or was it just him? Then it clicked.   
  
“I’m sorry,” Shiro spoke, Keith looking up to him.   
  
Shiro walked over to the bed, head hanging low.   
  
“I’m sorry I left… It was a year ago today wasn’t it… I’m sorry.”   
  
Keith could feel tears welling up inside, using all his strength to keep them that way.

“It’s not your fault… You tried to change the date, you tried, but you didn’t come back and… you didn’t come back…” Keith mumbled, looking down at his knees.

“I’m sorry. I really am… I was trapped and couldn’t get out of there but you found me when I crashed… I came back to you…” Shiro let his head drop a little before perking back up. “Wait, what about the present?”

Keith turned to look at Shiro with a confused look.   
  
“The present. The one I told you not to open until after I launched-”

“I never opened it.”   
  
Shiro fell back onto the bed, cover his face and muttering small things here and there.

“Was it important? Because I have it with me,” Keith replied, looking over at Shiro with no expression, not thinking anything weird of Shiro’s behavior.

“Open it!” Shiro sprung back up, looking directly at Keith, his face red and eyes wide.   
  
Keith stood from the bed and walked over to where his belt was hanging on the chair. He dug into one of the pouches, taking the slightly torn and dusty box out and holding it out to Shiro.   
  
“Here is it,” Keith said, shuffling back over to the bed, twisting and turning the box in his hands.   
  
Shiro gestured to it, Keith beginning to carefully tear away the already torn edges. Inside was a slightly beat up box, probably from the year it had been in that pouch.

Keith took a deep breath, opening the box and seeing a piece of paper, but then under the paper were Shiro’s pins from his time at the Garrison.   
  
“Why did you give me these?” Keith asked, holding up the pins he knew all too well. They were always stuck on Shiro’s jacket. On his left side, they rested there. They were given to him as rewards. One for something Keith never knew about, and the other as the reward for Kerberos.   
  
“I didn’t want you to forget about me.” It was obvious in his tone and the red flush on his face that Shiro was embarrassed and nervous at the same time.   
  
“I wouldn’t have forgotten about you,” Keith replied, feeling his face warm up himself.   
  
“That’s not all though,” Shiro replied, his entire head turning to the side to look away. “Read the note please.”   
  
Keith looked a little worried at Shiro before doing as he said, unfolding the note to read it over.   
  
The note read:

 

**Hey Keith,**

 

**I’ve never been good at formal stuff, so get ready for a lot of rambling from me. If you’re reading this, I’m on my way to Kerberos. And you’ve seen what’s in this box under this note.** ****  
****  
**I don’t want you to forget me. I know you’ll miss me, but I don’t want you to forget me in that studying you’re going to do.** ****  
****  
**That’s not all, though. Keith… I’ve kept this in for a lot of time, I didn’t want to really talk about it. The night we went to the shack together, on that hover craft of yours, it was amazing, and fun and… I saw a different side of you, and I fell in love with you.** ****  
****  
**Now I’m major embarrassed for admitting that. Wow, uh, keep writing, Takashi, keep writing. Yeah, I fell in love with you. It was probably dormant feelings for awhile that surfaced in that moment and… I think I love you. No, Takashi, erase that, take that out… This is a pen. Well.** ****  
**  
** **Anyway, this is awkward, uh… see you in a few months!**

 

**Love,**

**Takashi**

 

Keith looked up from the letter over at Shiro.   
  
“You probably think I’m the weirdest person ever right now,” Shiro replied, keeping his gaze away from Keith.

Keith looked from Shiro, read the letter one last time, then started laughing. Why was he laughing?   
  
The laughter seemed to startle Shiro, causing him to look over at Keith who was now holding his stomach, laughing loudly as tears appeared at the corner of his eyes.   
  
“Keith?” Shiro asked, worry coating his tone.   
  
Keith sat up, letting his laughter calm down as he wiped the tears out of his eyes.   
  
“It’s funny. Everything we did everyday seemed like a date to me. Like, we were a couple head over heels in love,” Keith replied, pulling his hands away from his face. “It would have been weird to call you my boyfriend, though.”   
  
Shiro blinked, processing Keith’s words.   
  
“Wait so you-”  
  
“I’ve been in love with you since the start.”   
  
There was a silence between the two, before Shiro started to laugh. Keith joined his this time and both of them laughed until their sides were sore.   
  
“Why are we laughing?” Keith asked, letting out a few stray laughs.   
  
“I had a chance with you… All this time I never thought I would. I disappeared and lost my chance and now…” Shiro set down his hand on the mattress, Keith placed his own top of it.   
  
“Now you have a chance,” Keith smiled, his face red.   
  
“I have a chance,” Shiro replied, laying his head back against the wall.  
  
Keith rolled his head to the side, lying it on Shiro’s shoulder. Each of them sat in silence, listening to the roar of the ship and each other’s breathing.   
  
“This is the weirdest birthday I’ve ever had,” Keith broke the silence.   
  
“Has it really been that long?” Shiro added.   
  
“Yeah. A lot happens in a year and a few months when Takashi Shirogane disappears,” Keith joked, sitting back up.   
  
Shiro smiled at Keith, before turning to his side.     
  
“That messed you up… I’m going to make it up to you. I promise. You’re like a guiding light to me, I’ll follow you wherever and never go missing again,” Shiro replied, letting his eyes drift shut.   
  
“I’ll keep you on a leash and have a tracker on you so you can’t go missing,” Keith joked again, scooting a little closer to Shiro.   
  
“That will keep me from going missing for sure,” Shiro chuckled.   
  
Keith leaned up a bit to place a kiss on Shiro’s cheek, feeling the entirety of Shiro’s body heat up.   
  
“Welcome back, Shiro.”   
  
Shiro coughed, composing himself.   
  
“Happy Birthday, Keith.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> That sweet pining Sheith. 
> 
> Follow me on Twitter: @shiirxtakashii

**Author's Note:**

> There will be a part two very soon that will be when they are in Voltron! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed and will enjoy the next part as well. 
> 
> Follow me on Twitter: @shiirxtakashii


End file.
